Misty's Sweetest Sixteen
by Stinkoman20X6
Summary: Misty's sixteenth birthday is tomorrow, but she's not sure that the guys realize it. And Ash has been so intent on his Johto League training that the two of them are beginning to drift apart. AAML. Rated T for some language.
1. Only Three Hours to Go

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**Misty's Sweetest Sixteen**  
-by Stinkoman20X6  
-published March 1, 2007

Summary: Misty's sixteenth birthday is tomorrow, but she's not sure that the guys realize it and is much to stubborn to remind them. And Ash has been so intent on his Johto League training that the two of them are beginning to drift apart. Will Ash ever understand how Misty feels? Will Misty's birthday be a flop, or will it be one of the best days of her life

Genre: General / Romance  
Shipping: Pokéshipping / AshxMisty / AAML, whichever you prefer  
Rating: T, for some mild language

Author's notes: Sorry about the corny title and predictable summary, but AAML lends itself to that. This is my first Pokémon fan fiction, as well as my first piece of fiction in more than four years, so I apologize in advance if it sucks. I appreciate reviews both positive and negative, but please review **_critically_** if you choose to review at all. If your review doesn't help me improve as an author, it is a waste of your time to write and of mine to read. For the record, neither "lol ur so great, ur story is so cute!!11" nor "u r the worst riter evar" qualify as helpful or critical.

Disclaimer: This work of fiction and the author thereof are in no way affiliated with the entities that own the various aspects of the Pokémon franchise. These entities include, but are not limited to, the following: Nintendo of America Inc., Hasbro, Time Warner, Creatures, Game Freak, Pokémon USA, etc. Any mentions of the various aspects of the franchise as used in this story are in no way intended to deprecate the value thereof.  
This story, with the exception of the aspects of the Pokémon franchise mentioned previously, is the copyright of Stinkoman (sometimes Stinkoman20X6) as of the year 2007. This story is the intellectual property of the author and is not to be modified or distributed without the author's consent. To contact the author, please send an e-mail to stinkoman AT yahoo DOT com.

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Only three more hours...only two hours, fifty-nine minutes, and fifty-five seconds...only two hours, fifty-nine minutes, and fifty seconds...

Misty stopped staring at her watch and tried to compose herself, but the excitement was too poignant. After all, there were a mere two hours, fifty-nine minutes, and thirty-seven seconds until the most momentous day of her life thus far: her sixteenth birthday. How could she not be excited? After all, turning sixteen was a huge milestone. She would be legally able to drive, she would...oh, wait. She didn't have a car, had never really needed one since she always traveled on foot, and had never gotten her learner's permit anyway.

Well, there were other important aspects to turning sixteen, right? There was...um...being...not fifteen anymore?

Misty shook her head to clear such heretical thoughts from her mind. This was no time for rational thought. Rational thought was for after her sixteenth birthday, which was still just two hours, fifty-seven minutes, and forty-three seconds away. Turning sixteen was monumental, and everybody knew it. That was why people usually made such a big deal out of it, with lavish celebrations, large-scale parties, and really tall cakes (the thought of which made Misty salivate with glee). After all, turning sixteen was something to be celebrated.

This presented Misty with somewhat of a problem. Neither Ash nor Brock had mentioned anything to her about her birthday in months, and she was suspicious. She was certainly too stubborn to bring up the matter (she would be damned if she had to remind her best friends about her own birthday), but she was certain they hadn't forgotten. After all, even Ash, the densest person she knew, was not so careless as to forget his best friend's sixteenth birthday. Or so she hoped.

No, not even Ash could forget that.

Well, maybe he could, but Brock would remember and remind him.

Misty tore her eyes from her watch (just two hours, fifty-four minutes, and twelve seconds left) to look to the southern sky. It was getting late, and Ash was usually back right at 9:00. Even being five minutes and forty-eight seconds late seemed long for him. He may have been training harder than he ever had before, but even he understood the importance of a good night's sleep. Well, perhaps he didn't understand it as much as he simply really, really liked sleeping, but at least he always made sure to get plenty of rest. That was the important thing, right?

Misty pondered the events of the last couple of months. This wasn't the first irregularity in the group's travels; in fact, it seemed almost like getting back to the good old days of being lost and late wherever they went. After traveling for so long through Kanto and Johto, everything had changed so strangely in the last weeks.

It had started a little more than two months ago. Ash had just won his eighth Johto League badge from the Blackthorn City gym, but the Silver Conference was still more than three months in the future. Much to the surprise of Misty and Brock, Ash had been eager to get started on an intense regimen of training. He didn't, he said, want to repeat the debacle that had taken place at Indigo Plateau, when his poor training methodology had yielded him a disobedient Charizard that made him lose the most important match of his life. While this certainly made sense to Misty, making sense was not traditionally one of Ash's standard approaches to training (or to life, for that matter). She filed his actions away in the back of her mind, but thought nothing of it.

So, they had decided to return to Pallet Town. Upon arriving, they stayed the night at Ash's mother's house (who was delighted that her precious son and his friends were home to visit) and went to visit Professor Oak's lab the next day. While there, Ash decided to leave his Bayleef and Noctowl with the Professor, as he said he wanted to concentrate on Cyndaquil, Totodile, and Phanpy, none of whom, he argued, had evolved. This was even more surprising to Misty. Not only did Ash rarely choose willingly to leave his Pokémon behind, but he was never one to judge a Pokémon's strength based on its evolutionary status. Simply looking at the winning records of Pikachu or Bulbasaur proved as much. But, they were his Pokémon, so who was she to argue?

After telling Professor Oak about their training plans, the Professor offered to loan them his cabin near Vermillion City. The trio had stayed in the cabin several Christmases ago, and he thought it would make an excellent training ground for Ash's Pokémon. Its location, in the middle of a dense forest and within walking distance of the ocean, made it an ideal focal point for training on a wide variety of terrain. Misty was surprised that he would offer, as Ash usually preferred traveling to staying in one place, but she was even more surprised when Ash agreed excitedly. Maybe Ash was finally maturing. He was fifteen now, after all, not the ten-year-old boy whom she had met five years previously. Maybe, just maybe, he was beginning to get a little common sense.

No, that couldn't be it. This was Ash she was talking about.

Misty and Brock had been ready to set off for Vermillion City right away, but Ash was unwilling to go. He wanted, he said, to spend some time training with Bulbasaur and Snorlax, whom he had left at the lab previously and had not had the chance to work with for a few months. Despite his reasoning, though, Ash spent the next few days training in the forest south of Pallet with just himself and Pikachu; he refused to allow Misty and Brock to accompany him. So Misty and Brock had stayed with Mrs. Ketchum, helping her in her garden and doing some training of their own. Each day Ash would set out early in the morning and would not return until late at night. He continued this day after day for almost two weeks, each day arriving home dejected and depressed. Despite Misty's best efforts to cheer him up, he remained sullen. Finally, though, he returned home one day at lunchtime, beaming with happiness. He had, he announced, managed to find his old Pidgeot in the forest, whom he had promised to come back and collect before leaving for the Orange Islands. Furthermore, he said, he was finally satisfied with his Pallet town training and ready to leave. In a dramatic shift from his previous mood, he could not have been more anxious to leave for Vermillion; Misty and Brock practically had to hold him down to get him to stay one last night in Pallet. Early the next morning, though, they finally set off for the cabin.

In a fit of nostalgia, the trio chose to bypass the more direct route of Diglett's Cave and decided instead to follow the path they had originally traveled through Kanto (albeit forsaking the week's worth of wandering lost in Viridian Forest). They passed through the Viridian region with little event. Upon arriving at Pewter, the trio spent the evening at Brock's house, giving Brock a chance to visit his family. The trip through western Kanto went smoothly (the group even managed to avoid Team Rocket), and the threesome finally arrived at Cerulean City. Misty, as usual, wanted to avoid the place like she avoided peppers and carrots, but Brock and Ash's objections won out. Brock, of course, wanted to see the Sensational Sisters, and Ash, oddly enough, had sided with him; so, they had spent the night at the gym. While there, Ash recommended that Misty follow his lead and leave Staryu and Goldeen, who had been with her since Ash and Misty had first met, so she could concentrate on training her three remaining Pokémon: Corsola and Politoed, whom she had not had nearly as long, and Psyduck, who was always in need of some more training. Misty had had no intention of leaving any of her Pokémon behind and told Ash as much, but he was adamant about it. Even her sisters, who normally could have cared less about her training, thought that she should listen to him. She was a bit confused by this, as leaving the Pokémon behind would just leave more work for her sisters, but she figured there was a good reason. In all likelihood, she thought, they just wanted to get their hands on some half-decent Pokémon to use in gym battles. So she consented, left Staryu and Goldeen behind, and the group headed south towards Vermillion City.

Finally, after more than two weeks of hard traveling, Ash, Misty, and Brock arrived at the cabin. Misty and Brock were ready to take a break for a few days, but Ash would hear nothing of it. After all, he said, there were just a couple of months left for him to train. And so, the group fell into a new daily routine. After waking up, Brock would prepare them one of his delicious breakfasts, they would feed themselves and the Pokémon, and they would start their training. For the morning, Ash and Misty would go down to the beach to train together, while Brock would stay at camp and do chores (he always wanted to do them, no matter how much the other two offered) along with doing some training on his own. They would meet back at camp for lunch, and then Ash would head off on his Pidgeot to train alone, leaving Misty and Brock at camp. Misty and Brock had, for the first few days, wanted to go with him, but he had refused. He said that he wanted to be able to work one-on-one with his Pokémon, without the distraction of his friends. The two eventually agreed to let him go alone. Of course, it wasn't as though they had much choice in the matter, since Ash had the only Pokémon that could carry a person long distances. And so, every afternoon he would leave, Misty and Brock would train, fish, or do whatever, and Ash would always arrive back by 9:00 in the evening.

Except this one. It was already 9:17 (just two hours, forty-two minutes, and three seconds left!), and he hadn't come back yet. Another few minutes and Misty would seriously consider worrying.

She gazed south yet again, looking out over the ocean. She felt as a pang as she realized how much she was missing Ash, even if he was only a few minutes late. Thanks to their daily training sessions, the two had become even closer friends than before. She truly valued the time they were able to spend together, just the two of them (well, and their Pokémon, of course), and she hoped that he felt the same way. Of course, knowing Ash, he probably just thought of it as a few more hours of working towards his ultimate goal of Pokémon mastery. Misty sighed at the thought, wishing he would see that there were other things in life that were just as important, if not more so...well, it was Ash, after all, and trying to become a Pokémon master was what made him Ash Ketchum. She couldn't expect anything more from him.

She was starting to get worried about him. Beyond just his being late this evening, he had been acting strangely over the last few days. He was moody, depressed, and always seemed harried and overworked when he came back from his daily training sessions. Each day it had gotten worse; yesterday, she wasn't even able to get him to talk to her before he went to bed. She hoped that he was feeling alright.

Misty was distracted by a motion to her left. She glanced over; Brock had walked over to where she was sitting by the fire. (Although they were at a cabin, the past few weeks had had such nice weather that they had opted to sleep outside like they had when they were traveling.)

"Any sign of him yet?" he asked.

Misty sighed. "Not yet, but I'm sure he'll be back soon." Idly, Misty wondered what Brock was going to get her for her birthday (which, upon glancing at her watch, she determined was just two hours, thirty-eight minutes, and fifty-one seconds away)

Brock folded his arms in concern. "Hmm. He's never been out this long before...well, keep watching. You're probably right; I'm sure he's fine." He turned and headed towards his sleeping bag. "Good night, Misty."

"Good night, Brock."

Misty sat, gazing into the sky (when not glancing regularly at her watch) for nearly a half hour before she thought she saw something in the distance. She stood up and walked away from the fire so her eyes could focus in the moon-lit night.

There it was, soaring towards her from the southwest. Although it was still nothing but a patch of black on a star-studded sky, the silhouette was unmistakably that of a Pidgeot with a very familiar rider, which in turn had a very familiar mouse-shaped silhouette riding on its shoulder. Misty smiled, glad to know that Ash was alright. She waved, though she knew they couldn't see her, and decided that she could now legitimately head for her sleeping bag. After all, there were just two hours, four minutes and fourteen seconds until her sixteenth birthday, and she would need every second of it to be well-rested for the occasion. Grinning happily to herself, she curled up next to the fire and drifted quickly to sleep, dreaming of birthday celebrations to come.

---

Ash brought his Pidgeot down a few hundred feet from the cabin in order to keep from waking up anyone in the camp. He was almost an hour late and he knew it, but he had had to finish some minor...training details. He hoped Misty wasn't worried about him. He wished that she knew better than to treat him like he couldn't take care of himself, but to Misty he would always be the dense, Pokémon-focused trainer.

Ash smiled to himself for the first time in what seemed like ages as he recalled his Pidgeot into its Poké Ball and headed towards the camp. He had been so busy these last few weeks getting everything ready, and over the last few days he wasn't even sure he would be able to finish on time. Fortunately, though it had forced it him to stay out this extra hour, he had just barely finished all the preparations. He grinned to himself again. Tonight, after all his hard work, he could finally relax. He reached the camp, stepping carefully so as not to wake his sleeping friends.

Ash turned to his electric friend, who had been walking next to him. "Alright, buddy, time for us to head off to sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow."

"Pika pi pikacha pi chu, pikapi." [Well, at least you have a big day tomorrow, Ash.]

Ash grinned again at this. "You're right, as usual. Well, you still need your rest." Pikachu nodded in agreement and scampered over to Ash's sleeping bag.

Ash began to walk over to his sleeping bag to join Pikachu, but paused for a moment to gaze at Misty. In the dancing glow of the fire, her bright red hair seemed to almost shine. She was, he thought to himself, even more beautiful when she was asleep. He was just happy that everything was finally ready for tomorrow. Ash smiled once more and then headed for his sleeping bag in order to get a good night's rest. As he had told Pikachu, tomorrow was a big day, and it was a mere one hour, fifty-three minutes, and seventeen seconds away.


	2. Making an Omelette: Breaking Eggs

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Misty yawned, stretched, and opened her eyes.

It's finally here, she thought to herself. After sixteen years of waiting, the day is finally here.

Misty was having a hard time stopping herself from jumping out of her sleeping bag in her excitement, but she knew she had to control herself. She just needed to calm down and pretend like it was any other day. She breathed deeply a few times, but the thought of what the day might have in store was overwhelming. She shivered in glee as she began wondering what Ash and Brock might have gotten her for her big day. She immediately chided herself for her selfishness, but then thought otherwise. After all, your sixteenth birthday only comes once, so she could get away with a little self-centeredness.

She glanced about the camp. Ash and Brock were still asleep, as usual. She was glad that Ash had gotten back safely, but he could have at least had the courtesy to wake up to wish her a happy birthday. Not that anything so important as birthdays or friendship kept Ash Ketchum away from his sleep.

Misty finally crawled out of her sleeping bag and headed for the cabin to shower. She couldn't wait for the day to begin.

---

Ash yawned, stretched, and opened his eyes.

It's finally here, he thought to himself. After six months of planning, the day is finally here.

Ash had been mentally preparing himself for this day for almost three years now, and the realization that it had finally come caused him to break out in a cold sweat. He tried to focus on making sure that he was ready but quickly realized that it was unimportant. Everything else was ready, and he had promised to himself long ago that this day would happen. He just had to face it like he faced all of his toughest challenges: head-on, as full of confidence as he could manage. And, as he was aware, he could usually manage a lot of confidence. Of course, what he had to do today made the Pokémon League seem like eating pie. Mmm, pie. Ash started to wonder what Brock would prepare for breakfast...no. He had to focus. There were more important things at stake than breakfast.

Ash sat stunned for a moment as he realized what he had just thought.

Well, he should probably get up. He needed to compose himself properly. He didn't want to give anything away; he had worked too hard getting everything prepared. He glanced over at Misty's sleeping bag and saw that she had, as he expected, gotten up for her shower. Now would be a good time to wake up. He crept out of his bag (being careful not to wake Pikachu, who tended to react...negatively when woken up) and headed to the nearby creek to wash up. He couldn't wait for the day to begin.

---

Brock yawned, stretched, and opened his eyes.

That had, he thought to himself, been one of his better Nurse Joy-related dreams. It was almost as good as some of his Officer Jenny dreams, if not better. He never could decide between the two.

Brock turned and looked, surprised to see that Ash was still not back. He sat up quickly, concerned, until he realized that Pikachu was in the bag. Ash must have just gotten up early. Odd, that. He knew Ash had been acting more responsible in recent months, but waking up early? That was just plain strange from him.

Well, Brock thought, time to start another long, uneventful day of training. He got out of his bag and went into the cabin to get started on breakfast. Idly, he pondered what meal he should make for Misty's birthday next week. Well, that was a problem for another day.

---

Misty was practically skipping as she walked out the front door of the cabin into the camp. After a restful night's sleep and a cleansing shower, she was more than ready to face The Day. A glance at the campsite revealed Ash sitting under a tree, trying to calm down his ever-energetic Totodile. He seemed tense and nervous, which was something she rarely saw from him. Usually his self-confidence was so immense that any sort of fear was drowned out.

"Good morning, Ash!" Misty called out exuberantly across the camp. Ash ignored her, continuing to try to calm down Totodile, who had become intensely excited by an especially interesting blade of grass nearby.

"Ash?" Misty walked over towards him. "Good morning."

Still no response, and she was practically to him now. Time for a new strategy.

"ASH!"

Ash nearly jumped out of his pants. Flustered, he responded with a sullen, "Oh, hey Misty."

That was all? No "happy birthday"? Not even a cursory "good morning"? How was this a way to treat her today, of all days?

"I was trying to say good ..." Misty began.

"Huh? Oh. Totodile, get away from that!" This last was yelled as he turned his back to Misty once more in order to stop Totodile from playing inside Brock's backpack. He quickly ran toward his Water-type, leaving Misty alone, wondering why he seemed to be ignoring her. It was her birthday after all; didn't Ash have more important things to do than play with his Pokémon? She began to seethe silently but tried to control her usually uncontrollable temper; today was too important to ruin by getting mad.

Well, she was going to get mad anyway. She clenched her fists at her sides and barely succeeded in restraining herself from attacking the boy.

"Ash! Get over here!" she shouted just as Ash was finally able to recall Totodile to its Poké Ball.

Ash turned slowly, with a dazed look on his face. "What do you want?"

"I have been trying," Misty said impatiently, "to say good morning to you."

Ash cocked his head and grinned his infamous grin. "Is that all? You really shouldn't get so worked up about it."

"I wouldn't have to get so worked up about it if you weren't so-"

Misty was interrupted by Brock's call. "Hey, you two! Breakfast is ready!"

"Alright!" Ash hooted. "Breakfast!" He dashed into the cabin, leaving Misty seething at nothing. This day was not, she thought to herself, going as planned. Well, maybe one of Brock's fabulous breakfasts would calm her down.

---

As Misty entered the cabin, she was greeted with a sight that had become familiar to her these past weeks: Ash and Pikachu scarfing down one of Brock's breakfasts at breakneck (if not breakstomach) speeds. Usually, a familiar sight like this, especially one featuring such good friends, would be more than enough to calm her down, but Ash's impudence that morning had really struck a nerve. Look at them, eating like Grumpigs. No manners at all. Not that the morning's events so far hadn't already proven that. Misty breathed slowly, trying to regain her composure, before sitting down at the table.

"Good morning, Misty," said Brock cheerfully as he set a plate of food in front of her. "Hope you're hungry." Brock sat down across from her with his own plate and began eating, admittedly with a bit more class than Ash, but not much. Boys, Misty thought to herself, shaking her head. She decided to ignore her friends and instead examined the meal. An omelette and toast. Wait, an omelette? That would mean...a few stealthy glances confirmed her suspicions. The boys were having omelettes as well, and they were having them the way they liked them: stuffed full of vegetables. And vegetables in omelettes meant one thing: peppers. Misty wretched silently just at the thought. She had always told the guys she hated them, but they had never really understood how much she truly reviled them. Just realizing that they were in the same room as she was was enough to completely ruin her appetite. Man, some birthday breakfast. How could they do this to her, especially today of all days?

Unless...

No. She wouldn't even consider the idea.

Misty began to poke at her meal. Now that peppers had been discovered in the vicinity, it was simply a matter of trying to not hurt Brock's feelings. Well, she could at least try to bring a little grace back to the table. She delicately cut off a bite-sized piece and put it in her mouth. Ecch. Just the thought that it was something that peppers could be in made her want to throw up. She managed to control her gag reflex, but knew that the rest of the meal was hopeless. She would have to just tell Brock that she wasn't hungry and sneak some food from Ash's backpack later. He always kept a supply of snacks on hand to feed his insatiable appetite.

Ash. She realized that her inability to eat had at least distracted her from Ash's earlier rudeness. Where did he get off, acting like that? And especially today! The boys should be treating her like royalty, not worse than usual. Everything was wrong, all wrong. Well, it could only go uphill from here. Or so she thought until Ash looked at her with a look that she knew meant that things were just going to go further down the drain.

"Misty," he said, mouth stuffed full of egg, cheese, and...those horrible vegetables..., "can you do the dishes for me this morning? I know it's my turn, but I really want to get going on my solo training early. I'll do one of your chores tomorrow, I promise."

Misty nearly choked on the piece of toast she had been aimlessly gnawing upon. Not only was he abandoning her during their joint training time, but he wanted her to do his chores? On her _birthday_? This was too much.

"Alright, what's the big idea?" she seethed, standing up with all the malice she could muster. "First of all, you can't even say good morning to me, and know you want me to do your chores for you? Today of all days?" She was practically shrieking now, but she didn't care; she was in full pissed-off-Misty mode at this point. "Next thing, I'm going to find out that there are _peppers_ at this meal because you asked for them!"

"Actually," Brock interjected meekly, "he did." Ash glared at Brock, who just shrugged in response.

"WHAT?" Misty knew Ash could be insensitive and inconsiderate at times, but this was far beyond anything he had done before.

Ash, however, did not seem perturbed. "So what? I like peppers in my omelettes and so does Brock. We never get to eat them anymore because you complain, so I asked Brock to get some but not make a big deal out of it. Besides, it's not like we gave you any. Stop getting so worked up about it." Ash returned to his meal, as if he had satisfactorily explained himself.

Brock broke in before Misty could try to mutilate Ash. "I'm sorry, Misty, I didn't think you would notice, and I didn't realize that you were so sensitive to them. But what do you mean, 'today of all days'? Is there something special about today?"

Misty turned to Brock in horror. Did he just ask...but that meant...had they actually forgotten?

"Do you not realize what today is, Brock?" Misty said quietly. "It's my sixteenth birthday."

Now it was Brock's turn to have a look of horror. "Oh my..." He turned quickly to Ash, who's face was still stuffed full of omelette. "ASH!" Ash just shrugged, his mouth full of food. At least, it _was_ full of food until Brock gave him a solid whack in the back, forcing his half-masticated omelette back onto his plate. The horrified look on Brock's face had turned to one of anger.

"You told me," said Brock, his voice low and breathy, "that Misty's birthday wasn't until next week."

"I thought it was!" replied Ash, his face totally failing to radiate youthful innocence. He was out of his chair and backing away from an increasingly violent-looking Brock. "I've been a bit busy, you know. I must have just forgotten what the date was. It's not like you remembered either; that's why you were asking me in the first place."

"I don't care," said Brock. "You, after all, are the one with the Pokédex around here. You know, the one with the _calendar_ built into it? Don't tell me that you take it out every time you see a Pokémon but not to see what the date is."

"Look, I'm sorry, ok?" said Ash. "I didn't know, I forgot, I'm sorry. If it makes things any better, I do have my present for Misty in my backpack right now. Let me go grab it so that I can at least try and make up for forgetting."

"You'd better," said Brock. Ash quickly darted from the cabin as Brock turned back to Misty. "I'm really sorry about this. I'm terrible with dates, and I believed him when he said it was next week. I meant to make you a big birthday breakfast and everything, but it looks like that idea got thrashed pretty badly. I feel horribly about this."

"It's ok," said Misty. "It wasn't your fault. I just wonder if Ash is going to be able to pull something off to make this better."

No sooner had the words left her mouth when Ash, breathless, ran back into the cabin with his hands behind his back. "Alright, here it is." He handed the box to Misty, smiling.

Typical Ash, thought Misty. He can't even remember to say "Happy Birthday."

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted, though, when she looked at the box she was holding. It was about one foot on each side and was covered with a silvery-blue paper so shiny that the eyes seemed almost to slip off of it. The paper reminded her of something; she couldn't quite recall what, but whatever it was brought only good feelings. In addition, the box had a very pleasing weight to it, giving the impression, like all good presents, that something valuable and exciting was to be found inside. The most delicate of bows, in her favorite shade of aquamarine, had also been tied about the gift with a caring hand. It was, in short, the single most perfect gift box she had ever been given, and it was exactly the opposite of what she would have expected from Ash Ketchum.

"Well," Ash interrupted her musings, "are you going to open it or what?" Misty had been so intent in examining the box that she had completely forgotten that the contents were the only birthday gift she was going to get today.

Well, she thought, let's make this one count. Carefully, she untied the bow and peeled off the paper. As she did so, she shifted the contents of the box, making a rattling sound. Misty felt a trill of pleasure; everyone, from childhood on, knew that boxes that rattled always contained better presents than boxes that didn't. That was simply common knowledge.

Finally, the box was completely unwrapped. Well, this is it, thought Misty. Hopefully this will sweeten this somewhat sour sixteen. Carefully, she opened the box and peered inside...only to be taken by surprise when a Spinarak popped its head out of the box and gave her a String Shot right in the face. Misty was too stunned by what had happened to notice what happened immediately after, but the first sound her shocked senses were able to register was the sound of Ash doubled over in nearly maniacal laughter. Misty didn't know whether to be furious or mortified. After a quick internal debate on the topic, she went with the best compromise she could think of.

Bursting into tears, Misty ran from the cabin. She had to get away from this terrible, terrible day.

---

Grinning with the satisfaction with his work, Ash turned to the door of the cabin. It was time to implement the next stage of the plan. Or it would be, if it weren't for the extremely tall and reasonably menacing Brock standing in his way.

Right. Dealing with that would be a solid plan at this stage.

Brock advanced on the now-frightened trainer with a look that made a stare-down with a Charizard seem pleasant by comparison. "What the _fuck_ is wrong with you, Ash?!" Brock shouted. "First you 'forget' the date, although now I think you were just lying, and now this? What is wrong with you? You're treating your best friend like dirt!"

Ash stepped back carefully, avoiding the approaching Brock. "Er, yes. Yes, I am. Will telling you that there is a good reason for that be sufficient to stop you from breaking more than one of my legs?"

"Not likely," responded Brock, seething in anger. Well, thought Ash, now's as good a time as any. His backing up had forced Brock out of the doorway, giving him an opening. With the reflexes he had honed with months of training, he jolted right and kicked off the floor, propelling him into a tumble that allowed him to get behind Brock and scramble for the door. He hoped that Pikachu had remembered to get into position.

As he burst out of the cabin, he gave a loud whistle. Despite his years of traveling with Brock, he wasn't feeling inclined to spend much time with him at the moment. Glancing back at the cabin as he ran to the other end of the camp, he saw Pikachu in his place near the door. Good. Everything was working more or less smoothly.

"Ok, Pikachu, you know the plan. Brock doesn't leave that cabin until I get back, on pain of...well, you know. The usual electricity-type pain."

"Ka chu, pikapi." [I'm on it, Ash.]

Ash looked to the sky and saw Pidgeot coming down, as expected. He called to it, "Pidgeot, is she heading for the ocean like we guessed?" Pidgeot cried an affirmative. Alright, though Ash. Everything is working out; now it's time to get this train wreck a-rollin'. As Pidgeot swooped down low to the ground, Ash jumped on its back and it immediately pulled back up into the air. Flying south at top speed, Ash could just barely see a weeping redhead running along the now well-worn path to the beach. Don't worry, thought Ash. You might be crying now, but when I'm through this will be the best birthday you'll ever have.


End file.
